19 Battalion and Armoured Regiment

CHAPTER 4 — The Western Desert

CHAPTER 4
The Western Desert

… singing in the Wilderness

—Omar Khayyam

The mood of the troops was merry. Each truck, crowded
with singing, shouting soldiers, swung into place in the
column and the convoy headed away from Maadi. Inactivity
had irked, and when Italy entered the war a more active
role seemed certain; at last the wheels were turning. The
destination, unknown at present, would at least be nearer
the battle zone. Spirits were high that morning.

As the convoy passed through the outskirts of crowded
Cairo, a chorus of shrill Saeedas and broad black grins
greeted the good-natured sallies from the three-tonners.
Across the Khedive Ismail bridge, past the Pyramids and on
to the Cairo-Alexandria road, a black ribbon of bitumen
disappearing into the distance, the trucks sped. A halt on
the desert roadside at ten minutes to each hour, with an
hour for lunch, broke the journey; then at Bahig, hot,
cramped and dusty, the column stopped to bivouac for the
night. Next day, 19 June, the battalion arrived at Garawla
in the Western Desert.

Halting on the seashore, about 12 miles short of Mersa
Matruh, camp was set up. The new surroundings were
found to be almost obscured by a heavy pall of sand. A
khamsin blowing up from the south-west cast a cloud over
the arrival. The area, too, had not long before been vacated
by Indian troops and, in addition to the sand, a plague of
flies infested the site. A change in the wind brought relief
from the first of these troubles, and rigid hygiene and
sanitation gradually brought the second within controllable
proportions.

Passive air defence measures came into action immediately
and tents were dug in and camouflaged with mud and water
—no easy target was to be presented to the Duce’s aircraft.
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The steady unhindered bombing of Mersa Matruh by the
Italian Air Force was then in full swing. The precautions
received spontaneous support from all ranks for the peculiar
throbbing note of the enemy night bombers passing overhead
was regularly heard; though dropped some distance away,
their cargoes shook the earth.

On 21 June 19 Battalion received news of its operational
role. Dreams of offensive action against the Italians suffered
a rude awakening. The task was a defensive one: armed
only with picks and shovels, it was ordered to dig a tank
obstacle. This mighty moat would stretch from the sea to
a terminal away on the far horizon somewhere at the head
of Wadi Naghamish. On the 22nd 18 and 19 Battalions
moved out as labour battalions and began to scoop a twelve-foot-wide ditch across the face of the desert. The work was
hard. The solid limestone pan, overlaid with stones and
loose sand, presented a problem calling for methods more
modern than bare hands and sweat. Explosives and power
tools are not found on infantry equipment tables and the
Engineers, who glibly reckoned the unit’s quota of ditch in
man-hours, were singularly deficient in items of more
practical assistance. All hands dug, and dug, and dug. By
pitting company against company and platoon against
platoon good progress was made. But from that five-foot-deep channel the desert contested every shovelful. The
heat was terrific and the temperature, plus the solid toil,
took a toll of men at first; the majority hardened up quickly
however. The sea was close and there was little else to do
but work, swim, and sleep. Toughening, the men revelled
in the work, and enjoyed the relaxation the white sands
and blue water of the Mediterranean offered afterwards.

The bathing was wonderful but the coast in parts could
be treacherous, and one afternoon several swimmers would
have drowned but for the action of Lance-Corporal Stuckey1page 30
and Private Currie,2 whose lifesaving efforts assisted by some
of the less strong swimmers enabled each man in difficulties
to be finally brought ashore.

Sentries and patrols were kept on the q.v. with promises
of trouble both from the sea and the air. Warning was
received of a possible enemy landing, and one night when
an unidentified motor vessel was reported moving east along
the coast, excitement ran high. But the only battle was
the daily wrestle with the dirt as the anti-tank ditch took
shape. The job progressed steadily, though the withdrawal
of the Wellington West Coast Company to Matruh, for
guard duty at the prisoner-of-war camp, cut down the
number of navvies and another heavy khamsin on the 27th
delayed work for that day.

Twenty bombers, raiding Mersa Matruh on the 28th,
gave a fillip to our air defence measures. On the camp site,
digging slit trenches now received priority. Visits to Mersa
Matruh supplied convincing examples of the necessity for
this caution. Nothing, however, came within range of the
tripod-mounted Brens and the job of anti-aircraft sentry was
a sinecure, a relief from digging.

The battalion’s first liaison with the Royal Air Force
began at Garawla when visits were exchanged and meagre
means of hospitality shared with the famous 45 Squadron.
They too were desert dwellers. A friendship developed
between the two units which lasted throughout the 19th’s
service in the Middle East and provided some of its happiest
highlights.

A travelling oasis in the desolation was the YMCA truck
with its stock of good things. John Ledgerwood, with
energy, craft, and a business acumen which rivalled that of
the wily wog, somehow managed to keep up his stocks. He
dispensed not only to the battalion but also to lonely detachments far afield. The gratitude of the Tommies in their
isolated posts was touching, and our boys were no less
grateful for the yeoman service he gave. ‘Pay me on pay
day’ was his answer to longing looks and empty pockets—
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the unit arrived at Garawla flat broke—and two hundred
pounds’ worth of stock, at an average price of five piastres
per article, was disposed of in that way: no book entries,
no slate, and no IOUs. When payday came, into the YMCA
till went two hundred pounds and twenty piastres. Thereafter in John’s emporium was hung a sign: ‘If no one is
here boys, take what you want and leave the money in the
box. If you’re “broke” take what you want and pay me
Friday.’—a testimonial to the character of the unit.

From the prisoner-of-war camp at Smugglers’ Cove came
a steady trickle of enemy souvenirs. Wellington West Coast
Company were making the most of their guardianship of a
nondescript, poor-looking bunch of Italian and native
Libyan prisoners who had been passed into their keeping by
7 Armoured Division. In a neat raid on Fort Capuzzo a
force from that famous formation had gathered in the
garrison, plus their arms and equipment, and departed
before retaliation arrived. The captives were in startling
contrast to our troops. Their poorly kept weapons were
eloquent examples of the inferiority of Mussolini’s African
Army, and their demeanour as prisoners belied the bellicosity attributed to them by Rome radio.

June ended with the relief of the Wellington West Coast
Company by 18 Battalion. Its numbers reinforced again, the
battalion’s digging quotas reached new heights, until on
3 July Hawke’s Bay Company departed and the prisoner-of-war camp once more changed hands. By the end of the week
it was evident that something was afoot, and on the 7th the
19th was suddenly relieved by 20 Battalion. Fresh from
Cairo, the 20th took over the area and the task, while the
19th once more clambered into the trucks of 4 Reserve
Mechanical Transport Company and headed back to Cairo.
The frustration felt when the battalion was ordered to leave
the ditch before it had stopped even one enemy tank was
reflected in every face during the preparations for the
journey back. Though it was not known then, the unit
would return many times to the Western Desert, and the
energies spent then, and later, in the construction of set
defensive works would not contribute one iota to the final
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winning of the battles which rolled back and forth across
the wastes. The digging, however, did pay dividends in
physical fitness.

Another bitter pill shared with all New Zealand troops in
Egypt was the news that the Second Echelon, whose arrival
all had long awaited, had landed in England. Rumour had
it, too, that the GOC had left Egypt to lead them in battle.3
The midsummer heat combined with the trend of events
to produce symptoms of irritation. The move back to Cairo
was not popular but once there the battalion let down its
hair. Messes staged some terrific parties.

One such beano which will long be remembered by all
participants took place when members of 45 Squadron paid
the officers’ mess an official visit. The evening started with
a dinner heavy with dignity but steadily degenerated as the
hours passed. When at last the guests departed, clad in
tea-towels in lieu of their irrevocably ruined tropical
uniforms, it was only to proceed a few hundred yards down
the road. They were apparently under the impression that
their vehicle could fly, but it failed to take off and merely
overturned. Result: one broken neck, one wrecked car, and
four badly shaken operational pilots. There were no hurt
feelings, however, and later the RAF retaliated in their own
inimitable fashion. Happily their casualty later recovered
completely. He had many New Zealand visitors while in
hospital and the plaster sarcophagus in which he was encased
became an autograph book for the battalion.

Guard duties constituted the main task of the companies
during the short stay back at Maadi. The unit was well
split up. On 10 July, three days after leaving Garawla,
Wellington West Coast Company was posted to the aerodromes at Heliopolis and Helwan for anti-aircraft duties
with the RAF. On the following day Wellington Company
took over from a company of the Scots Guards at the
ammunition dumps at Tura caves. Hawke’s Bay Company
moved later to Gezira and during the month all companies
were changed around. The tonic effect of this varied pro-
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gramme, new sights, new contacts and not too tedious duties,
restored a measure of content. Unit picnics held at the Zoo
and at the Barrage were happy occasions.

A reshuffle in appointments gave the battalion a new
adjutant, ‘Brick’ Budd, senior subaltern, forsaking his
carriers for that important post at Battalion Headquarters,
while Cedric Williamson,4 OC Hawke’s Bay Company and
the senior company commander, changed places with
Charlie Webster5 as OC Headquarters Company.

The troops left in camp kept up a training programme,
the specialist platoons especially making good use of the
time. More technical equipment had come to hand, and
with fully qualified unit instructors fresh from the various
schools, some good courses were run. The New Zealand
Divisional Signals, still on duty with the Western Desert
Force, had borrowed heavily from the battalions’ trained
signallers, and to make up the shortage men with suitable
qualifications were drafted from companies for intensive
training. Even in camp communications were vital. With
almost half its strength detached, the signal platoon had a
difficult time fulfilling its functions. It was January 1941
before the men lent to Divisional Signals came back, and
the pool of trained personnel built up during their absence
proved valuable in later operations.

Gas chamber tests, anti-gas drill, and equipment checks
were carried out by all ranks and the importance of these
precautions was increasingly stressed. Intelligence reports
confirmed that the enemy was developing methods of gas
warfare and that he had stocks of gas ready for release from
the air. The cumbersome respirators plagued their wearers
for the duration of the war, but mercifully gas was never
used: Mussolini’s experiments with the Abyssinians were
not repeated on troops who might retaliate.

Skeleton tactical exercises in co-operation with other arms
and units were held close to the camp. They were valuable
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training but not always an accurate forecast of what would
happen later on in battle. On 20 August the records show
that an exercise involving 20 Battalion, Divisional Cavalry,
and two 19 Battalion companies proved that ‘Tanks are
unable to break through a strong infantry line, and suffered
large casualties through bunching in the wadis.’ At the
time the only anti-tank weapon the infantry had was the
Boys rifle. Towards the end of the month companies concentrated again in Maadi Camp and on the 27th they packed
up once more. The morning of the 28th saw the unit on
the road again for the Western Desert.

1Cpl J. E. F. Stuckey; Ashhurst; born Mangaweka, 10 Aug 1916; farm-hand; p.w. Apr 1941. A determined but unlucky escaper, Stuckey spent a good deal of his time as a prisoner of war either at liberty or in solitary confinement. He made four successful breaks but was recaptured each time. For these and two other unsuccessful attempts, he spent 195 days in solitary confinement.